


Ready to Rumble

by Ghost0



Series: New York Underground [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:47:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28098666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost0/pseuds/Ghost0
Summary: The Rhino makes his grand debut! Attacking Harlem, Luke, Jessica, and Colleen do everything they can to hold him back. Unable to stop himself from going back, Peter fights through his injury from the night before and helps takes him down. But...it goes wrong. It looks like if Peter is going to stand a chance in clearing his name, he will need to work with New York's secret Defenders.
Series: New York Underground [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2053425
Kudos: 4





	Ready to Rumble

“I can’t believe you were stupid enough to hide your sword near a hospital.” Jessica spoke to Colleen while Luke was a few steps ahead of them. It was still pretty early in the morning, not a whole lot of activity around them. The walk back to Harlem’s Paradise was peaceful enough, no one really stopped and stared at them despite Luke being pretty well known. Well, Colleen carrying a sword with her isn’t exactly a common thing to see, even in a city as messed up as New York. “Do you always just hide lethal ninja weapons in bushes near buildings? What if some punk stole it while you were inside with us?”

“I would find him, beat him up, and take it back.” Colleen shrugged her shoulders. “What, you don’t approve?”

“Just seems kind of reckless.”

She raised her eyebrows and turned to Jessica. “Really? Jessica Jones is criticizing me for doing something reckless? I don’t know but I think trying to track down someone who is being hunted by people from both sides of the law might be considered a little more reckless.”

“How is that reckless? I was hired for a job and I am doing it.” She pointed out.

“Maybe. But I feel like you should know by this point that you can’t simply go find someone like Peter and expect to take him head on like he was just some other guy.”

Jessica snorted. “I can totally take on Spider-Man.” Colleen laughed a little, which annoyed her a little bit. “Take away the fancy flips and he- “

“Still has super strength that can rival if not surpass yours. At least I have some comparable speed and a little extra juice.” Colleen made a fist and made it glow white for a few seconds. Jessica continued to look unimpressed and indifferent. “Look, I actually agree that he should be found for his aunt’s sake. I cared for my students, but I’m not sure if it can be compared to endlessly worrying about a kid who is wanted by the law.” The cheerful pep and banter disappeared from Colleen’ voice. “All I’m saying is that I can help you. If you need backup.” Jessica didn’t say anything, partly because once they approached the club she saw a familiar face sitting in a car parked in front of the place. The door opened and she walked around the vehicle onto the sidewalk. Luke was the first to stop and the two woman came from both sides to stand with him. 

“Hey.” Karen had her hands in her jacket pockets. She admittedly didn’t think it would be awkward to see these people again. But a response from Jessica got the conversation rolling again.

“What a blast from the past. Can you tell Matt thanks for letting us know he was fucking alive? Just saying, a little heads up would be appreciated.”

Luke lightly tapped Jessica’s shoulder with his hand. He looked over at Karen. “It’s good to see you. But she does kind of have a point there.” He crossed his arms. “But I’m guessing you’re here to get the first post-hostage scenario interview.”

Karen cleared her throat, pulling out her phone to prepare it to record audio. “Well, yes. But I did want to see how you were doing.” Her eyes flickered over to Colleen. “Were you the one who came and helped them out?” Colleen shook her head. Karen then went back to looking at the entire group. “So, did he show up here? Did Peter Parker respond to Kraven?”

Jessica was actually fine to go along with Luke’s reluctance to give a straight answer. She let him handle this one. “Hard to say. I did start to come back around, but my vision was pretty blurry. The only thing I remember seeing was a knocked out Russian and a bunch of cops. Sorry to disappoint you.” While they talked, a truck turned a corner a mile down the street. It started to come up the street and towards the club. 

Karen put her phone away and nodded. “Probably shouldn’t have come here so soon afterwards. I do look like of an asshole for ambushing you like this.” Luke made a face to show that he agreed with that sentiment. The truck started to approach their part of the street as Karen continued. “But I did want to check back in. And I’m sorry that Matt being found was kept a bit of a secret. There was a lot of shit going on and we were wrapped up in our crap.” The truck started to directly pass them. The back end of the truck, once they had completely passed by Harlem’s Paradise, were force open. All four of them stopped their conversation and turned around when the things that broke out of the truck hit the ground. But it wasn’t a giant crate full of goods waiting to be stolen and sold on the streets.

The street beneath its feet was cracked. Rising its head upward, it became clear that this was a robot that for some reason took the form of a giant, metal rhino. While the feet were appropriately shaped like a real rhino, the hands on the end of the arms were more humanoid. Four digits and a thumb. The torso was giant and shined under the rising sun beating down on it. And up ono top was a rhino shaped head, with a sharp horn on top. The entire design leaned more towards a sleek design. Probably designed that way so that no one could try and grab onto it as well as eliminate almost all open gaps in the joints that someone could try and shoot at. While the head was on top with some sort of ocular devices, there was a blacked out window in the chest of the mechanical creature. There was someone inside the robot controlling it. And whoever was inside seemed to be aiming himself towards the vigilantes on the sidewalk.

“Are you FUCKING kidding me?!” Jessica held her hands out to the side as she yelled out in shock and bewilderment. “Where the Hell did Rocksteady come from?” The others were also very shocked to be staring down a giant robotic rhino. Luke started to take off his jacket and loosened his tie. 

“Jess, get Karen out of here and prevent anyone else from coming closer.” He turned to look at Colleen. “How good are you with that fist?” Collen held her sword up, extended in front of her. She summoned the power of the Iron Fist and extended that power to radiate through her entire weapon. Luke smirked and nodded. “I think that’ll work. Let’s see if it can cut through metal.” Jessica pushed Karen backward, both of them turning and heading down the street. 

They got a fair bit away. But Jessica stopped and turned back. “Damn it!” She muttered to herself. Turning back to Karen, she called out. “Make sure people don’t come and die!” The private eye sprinted back to Harlem’s Paradise to back up Luke and Colleen. Karen looked back and felt unsure of what to do for a moment. But then she focused her mind and turned around. A few people were already starting to come out and try to comprehend what was happening further up the road. Karen called out and held out her hands to prevent them getting any closer. Jessica ran as fast as she could, Luke pumped his fists in the air as he readied his mind, and Colleen rushed forward to try and slice through the giant rhino.

******

Claire was getting up from her bed, rubbing her face. Misty slept on an air mattress that they found and set-up. She didn’t want to leave the apartment until the boy in the next room was fully rested and she could figure out the next move. Claire reached out to her nightstand and turned on her phone. Once she looked at the news updates on her phone, she didn’t need coffee to get her brain started. “Oh my god, what?” She stood straight up, going over to wake up the bionic woman next to her bed. “I think you might be right about Kraven having support.” She handed her phone to Misty. Sitting up, she watched the live video that showed something going on in the streets. Her eyes widened when she saw that it was in front of Harlem’s Paradise. The footage was showing something big and silver running back and forth in the open street. A couple of cops managed to arrive and were trying to set-up a barrier. But most people seemed to know to keep their distance. With the exception of some kids trying to record the whole thing on their phones.

“Holy shit!” Knight pushed against her air mattress and stood up. “I don’t know who this guy is with, but he definitely needs to calm down.” Misty handed the phone back to Claire. “If you can still call Luke, let him know what’s up if he isn’t already there. I think I’ll try and get the itsy bitsy spider back home.” She walked out of the hall and expected to still support him a bit on their trip.

But she stopped dead when she saw an empty couch and an open window. “Son of a…!” Claire came out behind her and crossed her arms when she saw a lack of a teenage boy in her apartment. 

“I don’t know why you are so surprised.” She met her gaze when Misty turned to her. “You know what these guys are like! I probably should have tied him down to make sure he didn’t move. That’s on me.” Misty walked to the window to try and see if she can spot the wall crawler.

But Peter was already well on his way to the scene. He swung through the air quickly, trying to remember which direction the club was at. Could have looked closer in the video to pick up street names but he just reacted. Landing on top of a building, he could see the fight going on. Below him were a bunch of bystanders with cops keeping them back. Peter using enhanced vision to try and get a better look. A robotic rhino was fighting the two people that were hostages just the other night. And there was the woman with glowing sword! Trying to get close enough to slice through, but the machine was surprisingly quick for its size. Peter tried to clear his head and slow down his heart rate. Tried to focus only on the fight going on right now, don’t worry about the police now. He walked backwards a bit while on the roof, running fast towards the ledge. Placing one foot down at the last moment, he pushed himself up in the air and extended the web wings and glided towards the fight. 

A few people looked up and pointed up to the flying spider heading towards the action. One of the cops started to aim his gun up at the vigilante, but a nearby detective called out to the others and told them to hold their fire. Right now was not the time, and they could use whatever help they can get. Peter angled to the side and stuck to the side of the club itself. The rhino was bringing his fist up to try and hit Luke, but Peter shot out a web to grab the giant hand. Spider-Man used both hands and used his strength to struggle against the rhino’s power. The robot tried to break his hand free but was refused. During that struggle, Colleen activated her power and pierced her sword right through one of the rhino’s legs. This forced the robot to draw focus away from Peter. The sudden slack took him off guard and he almost fell to the ground. Jumping off instead, he landed near Luke. 

“I’m guessing you aren’t filming another Jungle Book movie, right?” He asked the man.

“What are you doing here kid?” Luke asked. 

“Who cares? Less talking and more punching!” Jessica stepped towards them. She patted him on the back of your head. “Do what a spider does and take down the giant rhino!”

“Give me a second!” Peter grabbed his chest and hung his head. He took in slow deep breaths, grimacing a bit as he fought back some pain. Probably should have found a less intense way of stopping that punch.

“Shit. Luke’s right. Go home Parker!” Jessica tried to pull him back. But Peter whipped out from her grip. He rushed and jumped towards the rhino trying to hit Colleen. Landing on his back, he used two webs to hit both sides of the head and tried to reel him backwards. That seemed to do the trick. He could feel the robot pull away from Collen and take several steps backwards. But as he pulled back, two holes opened up near the rhino’s shoulders. Out came two rockets that launched in the air. Peter simply reacted and tried to take the rockets down. One of them successfully made it explode in midair, but it grazed the other one. However, that was enough to make it veer off course. Instead of hitting the crowd of people, it hit one of the buildings that was blocked off. That still shocked and scared the crowd though, causing a bit of panic.

Jessica held her arms out, only to let them fall to her side. “Because giving a giant rhino rockets makes sense, I guess!” She turned back around to look at Peter as he landed back on the ground. “You got any other ideas? Aside from making my fists bloody, I can’t really put a dent in this guy.” She held up her fists to show the bruising on her knuckles.

“OK OK, let’s see…” Peter was looking all around him. There was a bunch of ripped up concrete, some of them you can hold with one or two hands. Looking back at the rhino that Colleen and Luke were trying to tag team, he noticed the window in his chest. It was blacked out but he knew that someone had to be in there. He turned back to Jessica and pointed to a e piece of debris next to her. “Pick that up, but don’t give it to me until I say so!”

Jessica crouched and picked up the debris he picked out. Standing back up, she curiously looked at the kid in red and black. “Please tell me your plan is to hit him with a rock.”

“Not at first. But kind of. But it has to be big and jagged so don’t switch it!” Peter shot a web at a streetlight and pulled himself backward. Standing on top of the light, he called out. “Push him back towards the building! I apologize in advance for what’s going to happen!”

Luke and Colleen gathered up the last of their strength and endurance and hit the rhino with a barrage of attacks. They used the robot’s focus to have it chase him towards Harlem’s Paradise. Then they snapped back around and ran away. As the rhino turned around with its back to the club, Spider-Man jumped off the street light and used a web to grab the manhole cover and lifted it up in the air. Turning around in the air, he used all of his might to direct it right into the space between the head and the torso of the robot. Forcing itself right into its metallic neck, the robot spurred and shook a bit. “NOW!” Jessica threw the rock up into the air for Peter to grab. Bracing himself, he slammed his body against the rhino. It forced the giant robot to fall backwards and through the club. Debris fell from above, hitting the robot and Peter. He tried to not focus on all the new bruises he has all over him. Bringing his hand up, he used the most jagged part of the rock and slammed it repeatedly against the window in the robot’s chest. After a few good blows, the window cracked open. Inside was a middle aged black man. He gritted his teeth as he shook his head to avoid the broken glass. Spider-Man was breathing heavily, looking down at the unnamed man inside. Their eyes met. The same kind of eyes Peter has seen before in some criminals. But only the ones who have a dark passion, the kind that warped logic and reason in order to accomplish their own agendas. While he might not have been this man’s personal target, the look of recognition showed that he was familiar with him. A slightly familiar look he caught from Kraven, someone who was more low tech but had something of a professional aura surrounding him during their fight. That was what he saw now. A cruel man, but one who saw him as more of aa professional target. The look of a hired gun.

Before the man inside could speak, electricity ran throughout the suit. Peter jumped up and above, pulling himself up to the good part of the ceiling. Looking down, the man inside closed his eyes and yelled out in pain as the current hit him. It lasted a good long moment, and when it stopped the man’s eyes remained closed. According to the sensors in the suit’s optics, Peter could see that his heart rate stopped. “No no no!” He dropped down next to the rhino. Luke and Colleen entered, with Luke getting close to the chest.

He looked inside and was surprised at who he was seeing. “Willis? Sweet Christmas, how did you…?”

“I didn’t think it would go off! I was just trying to knock him down and turn it off?” Peter put both hands behind his head, trying to stop himself from freaking out too much. “I swear I didn’t-!”

“We got cops people!” Jessica called out from the sidewalk, turning her head back to look at the interior of the club. “Colleen, take the kid somewhere. I’ll stay with Luke.” Colleen nodded, grabbing Peter’s arms and rushing out towards a back exit. Luke and Jessica were left to deal with the approaching cops swarming the giant robot with the dead man inside it.

******

She walked down the hallway, past the cubicles and the mid-sized offices holding some of the leadership heads. She reached the end of the hallway and opened the door. Norman Osborn leaned back on his desk, holding a table in one hand as he watched the news on the far side of his office. She turned her head around, swiveling her body dressed in a purple pants suit and her black hair tied up in a ponytail. “So you are up to date with everything that has occurred in Harlem?”

“Indeed. And I just got confirmation from Agent S1 that Kraven has been terminated.” He looked down as he brought the tablet back up and pushed himself off his desk. “Things might not have unfolded exactly as how we thought they would, but we seem to be on track.” She turned back around and walked over to stand beside Norman. He was looking at various online reactions and comments on the news articles and updates about the Harlem occurrence. “Kraven endangered our plans by making him seem like a hero. That hostage maneuver was idiotic. I almost considered scrapping the rhino attack. But thankfully Peter gave me the right chance to activate the rhino suit’s suicide protocol.”

She nodded as she processed everything. “If you think about it, this could potentially be better.” Norman looked at her. She aimed her hand towards the TV screen. “Spider-Man tries to fool the public by going in to save the hostages from a foreign criminal. Seems noble, even a little patriotic. But the man dies from his ‘wounds’ in the hospital, showing the brutality of his evolving tactics.” She used air quotes when talking about how Kraven died. “Then he shows up to stop the attack in Harlem, but using HIS methods. Leading to the death of Willis Stryker. Sure, he is an escaped convict who killed an officer, which might have some people side with him. But this will reinforce the narrative that Peter Parker is a growing threat to the city and its people and needs to be stopped. And seeing how the police are ill equipped, this will reaffirm their partnership with us in devising a strategy of our choosing to bring him down.”

“And if he so happens to die during the struggle, they will still commend us for saving the city. Even if it came at a rather unfortunate cost.” He put the tablet back on the desk. “I feel as though we can stop for today dear. Shall we call Eugene and tell him that we will be home for a late dinner this evening?”

He turned to face her, letting her straighten his tie and brush his dark suit jacket. “Already spoke to him. Food is being prepared as we speak. If we leave now it should be ready. Shall we, dear Norman?”

“Of course, sweet Melissa.” She wrapped her arm around his. The two of them left his office as they went to spend some time with their son.

******

“Here, drink this.” Colleen handed Peter a cup of tea. He was resting his back against one of the pillars in her dojo, grimacing a bit to shift in a slightly more comfortable position. He brought the cup to his lips and took a sip. She got down and sat cross legged in front of him. “Got any serious injuries? Broken ribs or anything like that?”

He shook his head. “I’m good. Well, I do have a big scar on my chest. But it’s wrapped and I took a couple pills. Should be fine.” He looked back down at the floor. Colleen tried to lower her head to see his eyes. They were closed, deep in thought and thinking over everything that happened. “I didn’t think I did anything to kill him.”

She nodded. “Accidents happen. You can’t torture yourself forever over what happened. You can never forget, but if you spend your entire life hating yourself for that, then you won’t have a life worth living. Learn from this and move forward.” He looked back up at her. He gave a weak nod. She could tell that he was trying to not let any tears get roll out and down his face. Colleen let out a deep sigh. “Shit. I’m sorry, I forgot that…you’re in a crappy situation. Could have been a little more careful with those words.”

“No, you’re right.” He leaned his head back against the pillar. “But maybe you can help me figure out what to do now? I feel like…I’m drowning and I’m reaching out for branches to grab onto but they seem to be grouping together and pushing my head back under the surface.” 

Colleen sat in silence with Peter for a few moments. She let him have a little time to just catch a breath and to try and gather his thoughts. “Well, you did help me out a couple of nights ago. I think we can stick together a little longer. See what happens.” She gave him a small smile, but a warm one. Then the door opened and Jessica came in.

“Cool place. Actually, I do kind of want to move in here.” Jessica looked around. “This is larger than my apartment, which already serves as an office. You would think that would give me more space.”

Colleen turned to Jessica. “What happened after we left?”

“Oh the usual. Took us down to ask a bunch of questions. Then the press tried to hit us with a hundred more. Helped Luke assess the damage. He’s still there right now, trying to call people and all that jazz.” She looked down at Peter. Turning her body around a bit, she motioned with her head to the door. “Come on kid. I’m taking you back to your aunt.”

“No. I can’t.” Peter shook his head. “Not until I can fight this and – “

“And what?” She held her hands at her hips as she looked down at the bruised teenager. “You have taken hit after hit, been shuffled off to who knows where, only to come up and take another beating. All while every cop in this city is trying to bring you in. And your aunt came all the way to my crappy place and hired someone like me to find you before you kill yourself. Look, I admire your spirit and shit, but you are in way over your head. Work with a lawyer and fight this in court like a normal kid for once.”

Peter looked back down at the ground. He was processing all the words and the weight they carried. Colleen observed him, mulling things over herself. She debated about staying silent, but found the urge to speak her thought was just a little stronger. “What if he brings this to her?” Jessica turned her head and shot a look. But Colleen persisted. “You have one criminal show up in Harlem, one who directly called him out. Then the next day another shows up in that same spot. Someone is trying to track him down, but this is beyond cops. Strings are being pulled and to go back would be to endanger his family and friends. Let’s at least look into this a little bit. Do whatever we can to confirm it is safe for them before sending him back.”

Jessica crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling. She was mumbling something to herself, but it was incomprehensible. After a couple of minutes, she sighed loudly and looked back down. “Fine. But the kid stays right here until he is healed. And I mean actually healed!” She pointed to Peter. “Not the kind of recovery that lasts maybe a day, just drink some scotch afterwards to numb the pain and you’re good to go. Even I can’t do that every single time.” Jessica scratched her head and did some more thinking. “In that case…I got to talk to some people. Be in touch tomorrow. Don’t leave, got it?” Peter nodded, then Jessica turned around and walked back out the door. 

“I’ll find something for you to sleep on.” Colleen stood up and ruffled Peter’s hair a little bit. The both of them grinned, Colleen turning away to find some sort of sleeping bag or mat to use. Peter sat and drank his tea, and for the first time in several days, actually felt like he was moving forward.


End file.
